The Sermon and The Lunch

I enjoyed reading the sermon and the lunch. It reminded me of an example in my own life. I mean, we are all hypocrites don’t get me wrong but it is interesting to compare this story with the story of my 1st grade Sunday school teacher.
She is a godly woman yes, who has been teaching 1st grade Sunday school for quite a while at my church. She is in the choir and participates in almost every church event. She is the epitome of a regular churchgoer.
However, like the example of the pastor in the sermon and the lunch, her home life is unlike her church life. She can be very crude to people she doesn’t like and occasionally I catch her not being the churchgoer she is so avidly on Sundays. I cannot judge my Sunday school teacher because I am a hypocrite just as we all are but it is just an example that sticks out to me. It is hard to be a good witness of Christ and his love to others when it is blatant that you are not following what you preach.

John 9: 5, "while i am in the world, I am the light of the world."

We are to be examples of Christs light.

Thend.

Eros V. Friendship

Eros Vs. Friendship

In class we talked about the differences between eros and friendship. We used the visual aid of the stick figures with the lovers who look into eachothers eyes and the friends who stand side by side and look ahead together. The lovers who are enveloped in eros put eachother infront of themselves; they put eachother first. With friends its not always like that, there is that kind of a relationship but unlike lovers who share common goals, friends have thier own goals for themselves and are not always wrapped up in eachother.
I am a very visual person so this discussion was very helpful to me. Since i am visually oriented heres my take on the analogy:


Example of lovers who stare in eachothers eyes:
Example of friends who look foward together with their own sperate goals:

Love: Friendship

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. "

I really enjoyed Lewis' views on friendship. I like this quote above a lot. It speaks to how unnatural friendship it. We really do not need to have friends but God gave us the gift of friendship. It’s interesting to think of Jesus without his friends. He definitely did not need friends, seeing that he is God, but he used fellowship with others to spread his word. Jesus' friends must have made his life more enjoyable. He didn’t need their help, but with them he encouraged the fellowship between believers which gives our lives value.
I also liked the part in the friendship chapter when Lewis talks about bringing out the best in your friends and your friends bringing out the best in you.

“In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out.” I like that friendship has that dynamic. I Love friendship and I love that God gave us that gift…and it is a gift, so treasure it.

thend.

Screwtape Letter Nine

Screwtape 9:
One on hand, Peaks can be more dangerous than troughs, but troughs are where the devil attempts to break us. Screwtape notes that when a man is at a low point, that is when he is most vulnerable to attacks. I found it interesting how Lewis explains the attacks of the devil are done on us when we are in trough periods. The devil takes the pleasure of this world created by God that are meant to be healthy and good, and distorts them and imposes the tainted pleasure on us in our troughs. Sexual pleasures are used by the devil to strongly tempt us as well as the pleasure of drink that he twists into alcoholism. Screwtape tells his nephew that it is much easier to gain a man’s soul using drink while he is sad, alone, and feels distant from God than gain a man’s soul when he is sharing a drink or two with friends during a peak period.
Not only does the devil attempt to rope us in with pleasures, but he directly attacks our faith during trough periods. We are susceptible even more so than normal during trough times to thoughts of doubt and anger towards God because we do feel distant from him. Thus, simontaniously troughs are places where we learn most about the strength of our faith and can be absolutely broken in our faith by the sly works of the devil. God allows us to be in these low places where we can be so broken, yet have the chance to grow immensely. Therefore, I’ve come to the conclusion…and I think this is ground breaking here…Christianity and being a Christian living in this world...aint easy.

peaks and troughs (Maui, Hawaii) 2008.

thend.

Screwtape Letter Eight

Letter 8: The Law of Undulation
There is a lot to take from letter 8 and the law of undulation. It is important to understand that there are periods in our lives that consist of peaks and troughs. It is good to understand the differences in you when you are in a peak period and when you are in a trough period. I enjoyed reading the part where Screw tape says, God “relies” on the troughs more than peaks to work on shape his children. I find it so true that it is when we are down and almost out, that we find God again. When we are at our lowest point we tend to draw up to Him, when we hit that rock bottom….we have the opportunity to be lifted up once more. Peaks then, are times when we feel fine in our life with our faith or whatever it maybe. These times can be dangerous though. During peak periods we can forget that we need God. Unlike in troughs where we feel the need for God, it’s where we long for him. If everything is going so well that sometimes we don’t stop to think about God.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quote from letter 8, “sooner or later He withdraws if not in fact, at least from their conscious experience, all those supports and incentives. He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs – to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be.” it is in these troughs that we can look up and see the Almighty

Learning in War Time

"It is only our daily bread that we are encourage to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received. "

I thouroughly enjoyed Learning in War Time, theres a lot to take from it. This quote specifically, i like alot. It just really hit me how true it is that God tells us to pray only for our daily bread. Just for the things we need today since today is the only time, as the quote says that graced can bereceiver or any service given. It is the now that we ask for help with and it is the now that we grow. we cannot tell what will happen to tomorrow so we must focus on what we can do for our God today. It reminds me of matthew 6:33-34:

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (NIV)

We need not to focus on tomorrow but what we can do right now.

I also enjoyed Lewis quote that, "100 per cent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased." then, since we all know we will die, it is not a question of that...but rather, as lewis says a question of "this death or that."

Lewis also comments on how death is made real to us by war. I know that this is true, friends of mine have lost loved ones and friends due to the current war going on....but lewis says that this can be a blessing. It is good that we are aware of our mortality, he says.

"War makes death real to us: and that would have been regarded as one of its blessings by most of the great Christians of the past. They thought it good for us to be always aware of our mortality. I am inclined to think they were right. "

i Agree with Lewis on this point. It is important that we know we can perish in an instand, therefore let us make the most of our time here on this earth and serve our God. Life is a one way street...theres no turining back, so look to today to love and serve our Lord.

my english syllabus.

All to often i take for granted the fact that im in college...when other people my age dont have this same opperunity. i take for granted the fact that i have this great thing before me that i can use to better myself and hopefully use it to better others. Lewis talks about how,

"poverty can prevent one man from becoming an astronomer as blindness may prevent another man from becoming a painter"

im neither blind nor poverty stricken so i must make the most of my education as i can. Unfortunatly i slack off when i know i should be diligently doing my work and i convince myself that not doing it now when i should, is fine...as long as i finish it later. (which usually doesnt happen right away)

I feel like i lack the desire to lean all too often. Lewis in Our English Syllabus, talks about how the young student should have a "thirst for knowledge." I do want that, i just let my laziness and procrastination stand in the way. Lewis describes the good student as, " a young man (or woman) who is already begining to follow learning for its own sake..." This drive to knowleg, to better oneself, is a most powerful thing. i pray often that i find it in me to press on disprite how hard the work is or how stressful it can be.

Something that Lewis wrote really impacted me, he states,

"i think....learning has been found to have an education value. Learning is not education; but can be used educationally but hose who do not propose to pursue leanring all thier lives."

i like this alot. Anyone can learn to be rude, or to be greedy, or to be hot tempered. Anyone can learn useless things. But when learning is used for educational purposes is is a force to be reckoned with. Education empowers people...and i shouldnt take that for granted while i spent the next four years of my life here at Calvin College.

-the.end-